Message from the Head

Hello there, and welcome to the School of Pathways and Immersion (SPI).

The SPI was conceived as the brainchild of our President and Pro-vice Chancellor, Professor Andrew Walker in 2019 as a new academic department that sits outside of the respective Schools. As an independent entity, the SPI functions as a platform for students and staff who wish to foster a deeper and more meaningful sense of Malaysia.

Broadly, the roles and functions we perform are twofold. Firstly, we are able to offer services and assistance to other Schools in producing content relevant to the topics of history, culture, religion, politics, or environment in Malaysia. And, secondly, we are dedicated to delivering and curating experiences, events and exhibitions that may be useful to students across various academic disciplines and backgrounds.

Through our design and delivery of various units such as General Studies, “MON2100: the Global Immersion Guarantee”, “AMU2455: Special Topics in Social Science”, and our upcoming collaboration with the School of Science, a new unit titled “SCI 2800 Human Ecology & Biodiversity”, we have observed a significant correlation between the experiential component of a unit and the level of investment and engagement of students. We are, thus, fully committed to exploring how experiential and field-based approaches are useful in fostering new knowledge and respectful attitudes towards diversity across the student body.

I invite you to explore the various projects and programs offered by the SPI at this site and approach us if you can think of any way we might be of assistance.

Dr. Wong Zhi Hoong (Cyren)
Ecological Anthropologist and Ethnozoologist, PhD
Head of School - School of Pathways and Immersion